iPhone Hero Builder

As I mentioned earlier, the current one on the app store is pretty sub-par. I kept it on my phone for a long time to see if it would ever be updated but I gave up on it and deleted it. It didn't even have Epic AT information on it.

I think the most basic starting point would be all ATs and all powersets including description and stats, this would include Power Pool stats for each AT and A/PPP. So basically, just a reference at first. I have the RedTomax page bookmarked on my iPhone for reference but a native app would be nice.

After you have the reference part down, I would start working towards a builder with actual stats displayed. (being able to add slots and enhancements). Maybe just start with SOs and basic IOs to make sure is working properly before going in to Set IOs. Set IOs seems like it's going to be a lot of work because of bonuses and such.

In regards to exporting, I could first prefer the option to export to e-mail so I could just throw it in to Mids. Well, I guess I may be getting ahead of myself in assuming it would be compatible with Mids in the first place. Are you planning this on being able to be compatible with Mids? Hmm... tricky.

I just had an awesome brainstorm session with some CoX vets on how to achieve both apps and we instantly started creating some wireframes which shows what goes where and what the used needs to do to create a build from scratch or edit a curently opened build. Even tho it was a bit of a strugle at several points, im happy to say we got a solid and userfriendly wireframe which holds all requiered data every step of the way without the (tiny) screen being cluthered with tiny icons, text and buttons.

I has a happy, lets get to work!
But first, some replies to comments...

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueruckus I think the most basic starting point would be all ATs and all powersets including description and stats, this would include Power Pool stats for each AT and A/PPP. So basically, just a reference at first. After you have the reference part down, I would start working towards a builder with actual stats displayed. (being able to add slots and enhancements). Maybe just start with SOs and basic IOs to make sure is working properly before going in to Set IOs. Set IOs seems like it's going to be a lot of work because of bonuses and such. Are you planning this on being able to be compatible with Mids?

Youre making some decent points here and i think ill follow them all as a guideline. I thank you for this.

About the mids part; mids creates a data chuck containing all information on the build. Once im at a point of wishing to do similar ill look at contacting the mids builders for agreement and advice. i DO think it would be a good feature.
For the very basics a forum export and a simple textual (email ready) export will be availible

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snow Globe Discuss it with the Online Customer Relations team before you put any serious effort into doing this. You'll likely not get into any difficulty with the build creator (though you might if you charge for it). However you'll very likely get into legal difficulties doing a costume creator, even without charging a fee.

For the costume designer part i will do this. As for the hero builder, there several hero builders already out there
as both webversions as downloadable clients and even a payed (but as mentioned several times by others) too basic version. So i dont expect running into trouble on that.

I don't think you should do an iOS app at all. Android phones are outselling iPhone. (Yeah, this will probably change for a while when Verizon offers iPhone, but I think the trend will resume). I'm sure there will be an onslaught of tablets, some running Android and some running the forthcoming Google Chromium OS, some running Win7 or Linux. Blackberry is still a big company and is throwing a ton of money into new platforms. Nokia too. Not to mention, if your app is really cool people will want it for Windows and Mac too! I know I'd much rather run a build planner on my PC browser than my phone's tiny screen.

My suggestion: do a web app. Use PhoneGap to be able to crank out native apps that can go through various app stores. Use a framework like jQuery Mobile to create interfaces that look native across different devices.

You don't have to worry about stuff like shipping an updated UI or database with a web app because everyone always gets the latest. If someone switches devices, they don't have to worry about transferring their data. Linking to datachunks is easy. Hosting is cheap. Heck, one generous donation of $100 would take care of hosting for a year.

Plus, a web app makes possible interesting possibilities of user generated content. People could mark their builds as public, allowing others to browse annotated builds for comparison/inspiration. You could offer statistical functions like "what percentage of builds pick this power" or "show me public builds that have more of set bonuses X and Y than my build does".

This may be a nonstarter 'cause it sounds like you're a dedicated Apple developer, but from the standpoint of maximum user adoption and futureproofing, a web app is the better way to go.

Would definitley want this.

I'd like you to mske an iPhone app first, and then make a web app. Whatever that is.

eco

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow [The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."

Being able to export a build created in this app to Mids somehow would be my ideal. Maybe email yourself a Mids-compatible data chunk or something, I dunno.

Keep in mind while you're doing this though that stats change and powersets get added. If you want to make sure your app stays up to date with current CoH numbers, it might take some extra work.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, though.

Any chance you could update SuckerPunch's online planner to be I19+ compatible? It runs OK on my iPad.

But yes, an iPhone-based, or even better an iPad-based, planner would be amazingly great! Please make it Mids-data compatible if possible.

And if you are taking requests, a Mac-native Mids would be VERY helpful to those of us non-Windows types.

Also, thank you for doing this.